Biography [eng]

their challenges. In 1995 Anders defended his licentiate thesis and his doctorate thesis (User Spreadsheet Systems Development) in 1999. Since then Anders Avdic has broadened his focus from End User Development and is now researching a number of fields within the overall frame of IT & learning. Research projects have focused e-Learning, e-Government, and Knowledge management. He has published more than thirty peer reviewed papers.

Teaching: Anders Avdic has since 1985 been teaching a range of various informatics related courses in higher education. Undergraduate, graduate, and PhD level. Anders received Örebro University pedagogical prize in 1999. He was appointed Particularly Qualified Teacher in Higher Education at Örebro University in 2010 and Excellent Teaching Practitioner at Dalarna University in 2015. Anders Avdic has also taught Spreadsheet development courses on commercial bases in various kinds of organizations and levels since late 1980’s.

Xiaobao, Peng

Ming, Wan

Abstract [en]

The concept of Triple Helix relates to collaboration between universities, governments and industry. Such collaboration can take different forms in different countries. This paper describes collaboration between universities and government in China, specifically in the city of Hefei in Anhui province, one of the most rapidly developing regions in the country. The research question is:How can bi-lateral research collaboration be a source of knowledge generation and commercialization for use in industry?

The study is qualitative, involving individual and group interviews with university team leaders and team members from successful projects. Government representatives in China were also interviewed. We used the SECI knowledge creation method to analyze the findings. We also describe the collaboration process from idea and application through to review, funding, realization and commercialization. Our study shows that the government in China plays a dominant role in the process of knowledge creation and commercialization. We conclude that collaboration is a source of new knowledge generation and that the government plays a key role by funding universities and creating a research environment that meets the policy requirements of industry today. In particular, we show that universities and their research groups use resources, such as skilled manpower, laboratories and equipment, to accomplish tasks within a set timeframe.

Abstract [en]

Purpose - The concept of Triple Helix relates to collaboration between universities, governments and industry. Such collaboration can take different forms in different countries. This paper examines collaboration between universities and industry in China, specifically in the city of Hefei in Anhui province, one of the most rapidly developing regions in the country. In so doing, it seeks to address the research question: How does industry collaborate with universities in order to acquire commercialized knowledge?

Design/ Methodology/ Approach - The study is qualitative, based on interviews with experts in R & D, and Intellectual Property Rights from high-tech companies based in Hefei. We analyzed our findings using a conceptual framework that focuses on Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Diffusion (Liyanage et al, 2012). Our study describes and discusses the entire process, from an initial awareness of new knowledge to its eventual acquisition.

Findings and implications - We conclude that Chinese high-tech companies design comprehensive strategies for the acquisition of knowledge generated from external sources. These strategies are based on local, provincial and state government industrial policies that aim to support collaboration with universities and implement external knowledge in existing systems.

Originality - Commercialized knowledge put into practice by industries for their own innovation and commercial purposes.

Limitation - We interviewed industrial experts from three high-tech companies in the city of Hefei, which is located in an industrial area of Anhui province.

Xiaobao, Peng

Abstract [en]

Introduction. This paper focuses on knowledge generation and the way in which it is transferred from universities to industry. Most well reputed universities have several departments and university-run enterprises that engage in research. The purpose of these research units is to help universities provide breakthrough innovation through the generation of new knowledge.

Problem Statement. For this we chose to study China's University Technology Transfer Offices (UTTOs) to gather concrete evidence of university knowledge generation for commercial use in industry. The objective of this study is get indepth information about the role of UTTOs in the transfer of such knowledge.Purpose. The generation of new knowledge contributes to the field of science and technology; in turn, industry can use this knowledge to produce new innovative products or improve existing ones. This study aims to identify the process of knowledge transfer from universities to industry in China.

Materials and Methods. Our study was carried out as a qualitative case study in the Anhui province of China. Data was mainly collected through semi-structured interviews with technology transfer experts working in technology transfer offices. Collected data were analyzed using a knowledge transfer model with six phases: 1) awareness, 2) acquisition, 3) transformation, 4) association, 5) application, and 6) feedback.

Results. In China, universities and their research groups dominate in the generation and commercialization of research results, with UTTOs acting as technology bridges between the two parties, as well as providing legal and business services.

Conclusions. This paper contributes by offering a detailed description of the knowledge transfer process and specifically the role and activities of UTTOs. This research also helps Chinese and international researchers currently carrying out research on the technology transfer process in China.

Abstract [en]

This paper seeks to respond to the research question: How does appropriation take place in the public sector in the development of end user applications by civil servants? Appropriation is defined as taking advantage of opportunities related to the development and use of applications, when the developer has in-depth knowledge of the problem domain and is also the primary user of the application. Our results showed that public servants who have deep problem domain knowledge can take advantage of end user tools (e.g. spreadsheet programs) in the problem- solving process to solve vaguely defined problems. Appropriation is manifested in the continuous development of various ICT applications. In this paper, we differentiate between first- and second-order appropriation. First-order appropriation takes place when the potential of the development tool is appropriated by the end user. Second-order appropriation takes place when an application is continuously developed and refined in parallel with the end user’s learning process and the development of organizational requirements.

Keywords

End User Development, End User Computing, Appropriation, eGovernment, Public Sector

Abstract [en]

The most widely used method in recommendation systems is collaborative filtering, of which, a critical step is to analyze a user's preferences and make recommendations of products or services based on similarity analysis with other users' ratings. However, collaborative filtering is less usable for recommendation facing the 'cold start' problem, i.e. few comments being given to products or services. To tackle this problem, we propose an improved method that combines collaborative filtering and data classification. We use hotel recommendation data to test the proposed method. The accuracy of the recommendation is determined by the rankings. Evaluations regarding the accuracies of Top-3 and Top-10 recommendation lists using the 10-fold cross-validation method and ROC curves are conducted. The results show that the Top-3 hotel recommendation list proposed by the combined method has the superiority of the recommendation performance than the Top-10 list under the cold start condition in most of the times.

Abstract [en]

Flexible study pace distant courses provide opportunities for students with disabilities to attend courses in higher educations as opposed to campus courses with fixed schedules. At least that is what we believe. This study investigates how mentally disabled students perceive taking distant courses with flexible pace and also how their teachers perceive opportunities and challenges. Flexible pace means here distant courses where students can start when they like and keep the pace they prefer. The courses in question are part of a two year program of eService Development at Dalarna University in Sweden. The program was launched in 2006 and admits ca 50-80 students each semester. Many of the students are unable to take campus courses of various reasons such as living far from universities, working daytime, etc. We sent out questionnaires to students with disabilities and to teachers asking them semi structured questions about perceived challenges and opportunities regarding the studies. The students had mental disabilities such as Dyslexia, ADHD, Asperger syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Social Phobia. The answers have been analyzed qualitatively by categorizing the answers firstly in groups of challenges and opportunities and further on in sub categories. Our finding shows that the flexible aspect is especially important to students as it gives them the opportunity to adjust their studying practices to their disabilities. Our conclusions are that the flexible study pace approach (FreeStartFreePace) is suitable for students with nonlinear work. It is also useful for students with mental disabilities who could have a problem adapting to schedules and conforming procedures.